Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 May 2014
456. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will instruct his Department to create a register of suitably qualified architectural technologists with a view to including this register as a statutory register along with the proposed statutory register of contractors next year. [21090/14]
View answerNew Building Control Regulations came into effect on 1 March 2014 requiring, inter alia, that statutory certificates of compliance be given by construction professionals in respect of the design and construction of new buildings. The statutory certificates of compliance must be signed by a registered professional i.e. a person who is included on the statutory registers of architects or building surveyors maintained in accordance with the Building Control Act 2007 or on the register of chartered engineers established under the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland (Charter Amendment) Act 1969. Architects, Building Surveyors and Chartered Engineers are the construction professions typically involved in the design of construction works in Ireland and reference to these professions in regulation is entirely appropriate.
Depending on their personal circumstances, it may be open to persons who are Architectural Technologists and who possess the requisite experience and competence in the design of buildings, to seek inclusion on one of the statutory registers referred to, which would enable a person to sign statutory certificates of compliance as provided for under the new regulations. My Department has no plans at present to provide for the establishment of a stand-alone register of suitably qualified architectural technologists along the lines suggested.
My Department has also been approached by the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists in relation to the recognition of persons who have reached its chartered level of membership. In this regard, I refer to the reply to Questions Nos. 523, 529 and 530 of Tuesday 18 February 2014 which comprehensively sets out the position in relation to this aspect of the matter which remains under consideration.
